Ole Miss Men’s Basketball welcomed the Miami Hurricanes to The Sandy and John Black Pavilion for the ACC/SEC Challenge. Then, they traveled to New York to face No. 22 St. Johns.
Miami
The Rebels lost by nine points to Miami in the ACC/SEC challenge on Tuesday, Dec. 2. Ole Miss was simply outplayed by the Hurricanes.
“We didn’t take advantage of the good atmosphere that we have,” head coach Chris Beard said in his postgame press conference. “Just a lack of effort, especially the first half by our starters.”
The Rebels started forwards Malik Dia and James Scott beside guards AJ Storr, Ilias Kamardine and Patton Pinkins.
“Patton (Pinkins) had been playing well individually. We’re looking for some type of spark in that five,” Beard said. “Pat (Pinkins is) a young guy playing a grown man’s game. He deserved that opportunity based on his game performance and practice performance.”
Ole Miss fell behind 42-26 to Miami throughout the first half with 32.4% scoring and eight offensive rebounds.
The Rebels went back-and-forth with Miami in the first until the final ten minutes when they began struggling from the field just as they did against Utah, allowing the Hurricanes to continue to increase their lead to 16.
Ole Miss had poor perimeter defense, which gave the Hurricanes too many open 3-pointers. When they did apply defensive pressure, they sent the Hurricanes to the free-throw line often.
Dia carried the Rebels with seven points, one assist and eight out of the Rebels’ 16 rebounds. He struggled from the field and was only 1-of-9 on field goals and 0-of-1 on 3-pointers while making 5-of-6 free throws.
Storr followed behind with six points, one rebound and one assist. Kamardine was noticeably off his game throughout the half with only one point from 1-of-2 free throws. He had chances to make field goals, but struggled to find the bottom of the net. He also got into foul trouble.
The Rebels continued to trail the Hurricanes throughout the entire second half despite Ole Miss utilizing its depth.
Travis Perry and Zach Day’s back-to-back 3-point jumpers decreased the Hurricanes lead briefly.
Kamardine’s scoring struggle continued with more missed shots. Notably, a Miami missed dunk that was recovered by Hobert Grayson IV and two layups reduced the scoring gap to 10 points; Grayson then missed a 3-pointer but drew a foul to give the Rebels back possession.
Day and Perry hit back-to-back three-pointers again to reduce the lead. Perry was on fire this game, stepping out of what seemed to be a slump by surpassing his single-game point total for the season with 11 points. Day also surpassed his single-game point total for the season with six points. Still, the Rebels fell 75-66.
“To recognize guys like Zach Day, plus-nine when he’s in the game, he just plays hard,” Beard said. “And we got starters that are minus-21 when they’re in the game. We’re searching. It’s everybody’s responsibility, myself included, to get this thing figured out, just disappointing, just lack of effort.”
Perry tied Pinkins as the top point scorer for the Rebels with 11 points. Perry made 4-of-7 field goals and 3-of-5 3-pointers to go along with two assists. Pinkins made 4-of-8 field goals, 1-of-3 three-pointers, 2-of-2 free throws and earned one assist.
Kamardine’s 3-pointer and Corey Chest’s dunk ended the scoring for the Rebels. Ole Miss finished with 35% shooting from the field and 14 offensive rebounds.
“I think it’s all collective as a team,” Storr said in a postgame press conference. “We got to execute more.”
St. John’s
Ole Miss traveled to Madison Square Garden to face No. 22 ranked St. John’s on Saturday, Dec. 6. The Rebels played much better in this game then they did against Miami, but they still lost 63-58.
The Red Storm carried a 33-25 lead into the second half. Ole Miss was 10-of-26 from the field after 20 minutes.
What killed the Rebels was poor 3-point shooting. They were 2-of-16 from deep on the night. Both teams had 20 turnovers. St. John’s 13 fast break points stood out as a key reason for their victory.
Dia did not start this game for the Rebels, but he recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Kamardine put up 16 points and Geffa scored 10. Storr only put up two points; the crowd booed him throughout the game, since he played for the Red Storm as a freshman in 2022.
What’s next?
The Rebels play Southern Miss in Biloxi, Miss., on Saturday, Dec. 13 at 2 p.m. SEC Network+ will broadcast the game.
